Iron Within
by blaze92x45
Summary: A one shot story following an OC tank witch unit called the Iron Witches as they defend a village in central Gallia from a Neuroi ground attack. this takes place in the Clocktower universe and has some references to company of heroes. rated M for swearing and strong violence


**Hey guys how is it going. as some of you might know I am the author for the Strike Witches and Call of Duty crossover called the Clocktower. in the Clocktower verse there is an OC unit of witches called the Iron Witches who are going to be showing up in the story I decided that I wanted to do a one shot introducing them to everyone along with some characters from the Neuroi. speaking of the Neuroi I am planning on showing them to be very very different from my friend and fellow COD/SW writer Bucue portrays them. he sees the Neuroi as a race of people who have been pushed to the brink of extinction and are fighting humanity more out of desperation than anything else; while I am going to portray them... hehe yeah like the polar opposite of that. the Neuroi of the Empire are sadistic monsters that have more in common with something outta warhammer 40k rather than a magical girl anime and you will see exactly what that entails in this short story of mine. also speaking of Bucue I was given express permission from him to have his OC unit the 78th Tame Witches show up in this story and the Clocktower and they will do just that. also one final note this story takes place within the Clocktower universe chronologically around the time chapter 21 is happening so go check that story out if you haven't already. anyway lastly some content warning this chapter is extremely violent so be warned oh and their is no pairings of any kind in this particular one shot so those who don't like any slashy stuff you wont have to worry about that here. anyways please do read and enjoy.**

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Iron Within

**_"Hearts forged in the fires of war, and hardened on the anvil of battle."_** **_unit motto of the 3_****_rd_****_ Land Battle Witches AKA the "Iron Witches"_**

**Forward Operations Base Central Gallia**

**Major Samantha V. Walters **

**10:07 local time**

Samantha sat in the bath brooding. Things had gotten hectic at the front since the 501st had disappeared. The Neuroi seemed far more aggressive than before with their attacks and last Samantha heard several high ranking military officers had been killed by the alien menace. First Montgomery and his command staff were butchered by an unknown Neuroi type that seemed to appear out of thin air and slice him to pieces. Samantha shuttered to herself as she thought of the incident. Samantha had seen pictures of what was left of Montgomery's command tent; shredded corpses pieces of people littering the ground and blood splattered everywhere… so much blood… and Montgomery himself there… there was nothing left of him save a few pieces of shredded flesh and a mass of bones, blood and organs he was only recognizable because his nametag was relatively intact. Then there was General Homma of the Fusoan Army; he was found half eaten in the middle of nowhere. His men claimed that they had seen some kind of demon devour him. Finally and most tragic of all was what had happened to the Kaiser and his family. A Neuroi creature massacred his entire family which drove the Kaiser to commit suicide. It just didn't make sense what were the Neuroi up to?

"Hey Sam what are you thinking about?" Captain Diana Ross asked her. Diana was a Liberion witch who served as Samantha's 2IC and the busty Brunette haired eighteen year old was a good friend and trusted advisor.

"Nothing Diana, its fine." Samantha tells her. Diana stares at Samantha before raising an eyebrow.

"Are you sure it's nothing Sam?" Diana asks. Before Samantha could reply 1st Lieutenant Helga Strauss a blonde haired blue eyed Karlslander spoke.

"If it is something important or mission related I think it is better if we know now Ma'am." Helga said to Samantha.

"Oh chill out Helga it might not be mission related; beside the Major might be having boy trouble." A young fourteen year old black haired witch from Romagna named Claudia Vanzetti spoke as she was swimming in the deeper end of the bath. Helga growled and spoke.

"And how do you know that it isn't? Excuse me if I don't want my ass shot off in combat." The eighteen year old Karlslander spoke. Claudia was about to shoot back when Samantha cut her off.

"Zip it both of you. First off it's not boy trouble I am having Claudia." Samantha said to the young Sergeant who frowned a little. Helga looked satisfied and smug until Samantha turned to her. "Secondly it's not mission related… or rather not directly mission related." Samantha told them.

"Well what is on your mind then? Come on tell us we are dying to know." Diana said as she took another swig of her whisky.

"I was thinking about how weird everything has gotten since the 501st disappeared in Romagna a few months ago; you know with all of the assassinations and the random Neuroi attacks. It's just so strange things don't seem to add up." Samantha told them. Diana then replied.

"Yeah it does seem to be completely contrary to the MO that the Neuroi have been following up until this point." Diana replied; then Claudia spoke.

"Well I just feel sorry for the Geena girl she seemed really sad when the Star of Afrika disappeared." She stated to the group.

"Yes I did hear that those two had become rather close over the course of the last year." Diana replied.

"Bah as a soldier of Karlsland if you lose a comrade the best way to honor them is to kill the enemy and do your duty so their sacrifice would not be in vain. Commander Preddy should be more motivated than ever to get out into the field and kill Neuroi!" Helga stated with the confidence only a "true soldier of Karlsland" could have.

"Oh can it; no one wants to hear your lame soldier talk." Claudia claimed. Needless to say Helga exploded at that statement and called Claudia an "undisciplined fool" for not listening to her. Just before Samantha could shut their argument down Master Sergeant Izumi Yamashiro and Sergeant Major Zhana Moskvin barraged into the room.

"Major we just got word from high command the Neuroi have launched an infantry attack on two villages 50kms from here!" Izumi shouted to Samantha swore and stood out of the bath and looked to the other three girls still in the bath.

"Alright ladies you heard the girl get dressed and mount up we got a village to save." Samantha shouted to her fellow witches who climbed out of the bath and headed for the changing room. Samantha dried off and got dressed in her uniform. She then ran over to hanger and jumped into her Sherman Firefly striker unit and felt her familiar (which was a bobcat) come out. One of the mechanics handed Samantha her M1 Thompson SMG and gave her a handful of spare thirty round stick magazines. Samantha was formerly part of the Faraway Land Army and had served as a witch for two years before being put in charge of the Iron Witches. She then looked to Diana a former Liberion Witch Cavalry regiment tank witch; and as such she wore the dark green uniform with the yellow bandana tied around her neck and the iconic cavalry gloves on her hands. A pair of Jack Rabbit ears and a tail appeared on Diana as she put on her M4A3E8 Striker and grabbed her 76mm cannon. Diana was a veteran of the North Africa campaign and had won a silver star for heroism on the field of battle when she risked her life to rescue an injured soldier who was stranded behind enemy lines.

Samantha then looked to Zhana a shy fifteen year old girl from Moscow Orussia. She had long platinum blonde hair with deep green eyes and fair skin; she served as the Iron Witches' sniper and used a T-34 striker with a Mosin-Nagant sniper rifle; and her familiar was a black bear. Zhana always seemed shy around the other girls but especially so for Samantha; although the Faraway Lander had no idea why save for rank.

She then looked to the Karlslander Helga she was a member of one of the "Panzer Elite" units of the Karlsland Army. She had served as a Land Battle witch for the last six years seeing combat from the early days of the war to North Africa. Helga grabbed her 75mm gun as she activated her Panzer IV striker. Helga wore a camouflaged green black and brown patterned uniform (which was called Platanenmuster pattern) and always wore her M34 side cap with the same set of camouflage. A Karlsland Shepherd's ears appeared on her head as she summoned her familiar.

Samantha then looked to Izumi who was the Iron Witches' medic and radio operator. She had long black hair and brown eyes hidden behind a pair of eye glasses. She used a Type 97 Chi-Ha striker and used an Arisaka Type 99 rifle. Izumi had powerful healing magic that could stabilize someone if they got in critical condition. Izumi's healing magic was rumored to be almost as powerful as one of the Miyafuji family members magic. Izumi's familiar was a Shiba Inu.

Lastly a prodigy from Romagna was the young Claudia Vanzetti a Sergeant and support gunner for the Iron Witches. She used a Browning M2 machine gun as her main weapon and a M15/42 tank striker. Claudia was a rebellious witch who always liked to challenge authority that was why she fought so much with Helga as their personalities were always clashing. Claudia's familiar was a house cat.

"Major I got word from Lieutenant Marwick from the 78th Tame Witches. Marwick says that the Tame Witches are two hours out from the combat zone but will back us up as soon as they can." Izumi said to Samantha who nodded.

"Understood." Samantha replied as she cocked her SMG. Samantha looked to the witches beside her and spoke. "Iron Within!" She shouted the Iron Witches battle cry.

"IRON WITHIN!" The rest of the Iron Witches shouted. With that Samantha activated her striker's treads and shout out of the hanger heading for the fields of battle.

**A village in Central Gallia**

**Captain Otto Bauer **

**10:31 local time**

"Alright gentlemen here they come!" Otto shouted to his crew of his Panther tank as he ducked down inside the sealed hatch of his Panther. The Neuroi were closing the distance fast in less than two minutes they would be within gun range of the 75mm cannon on board the Panther. 1500 meters away was a mass of over five hundred two meter tall Neuroi creatures. They looked like a grotesque hybrid of a man and a spider; eight legs propelled them forward and their human like torso had one blade arm and one normal arm with an integrated laser weapon in it. They had a diamond shaped head and some of these Neuroi seemed to sport a pair of horns atop their heads. They were probably indicators of rank or status in the Neuroi force. 2250 meters away at the tree line more Neuroi infantry poured out from the tree line looking similar to these Neuroi. The Neuroi had to number in the range of a thousand now; but Otto was unafraid after all he was a member of Karlsland's Panzer Elite.

The Panzer Elite were made up of a mishmash of units form the Karlsland Army mostly consisting of Fallschirmjager units and Panzer Grenadiers with elite panzer units for support. The Panzer Elite had fought in many battles and won many medals for their bravery in combat. Alongside the Panzer Elite Battalion were two companies from the Liberion 101st Airborne Division. The Screaming Eagles as they called themselves had sent Baker and Echo Company to provide support for the Panzer Elite forces to hold the village until the Iron Witches Arrived.

The Panzer Elite's four Whirlwind quad 20mm auto cannon turrets opened up on the Neuroi sending a steady stream of high explosive death at the Neuroi. The first wave of Neuroi infantry was cut down by the auto cannons shattering into white shards as they died. Otto looked to his Gunner named Adolf Schmidt and shouted.

"Fire!" Otto shouted as the Panther bucked as a 75mm HE shell shot out from the cannon smashing into the Neuroi obliterating a knot of three tightly packed Neuroi. Otto then spoke into his Radio. "All tanks fire at will; I repeat fire at will!" Otto shouted as the other remaining nine Panthers opened up on the Neuroi. The Neuroi where shredded by the tanks shells but kept coming. They were within four hundred meters now and they began to open fire. Ruby red beams of light shot out from their arm/guns. Otto watched as a Panzer Grenadier was struck center mass by the beam and exploded in a cloud of blood and gore painting the walls behind him in his vital fluids. "Shit." Otto muttered as he witnessed more Panzer Grenadiers go down to Neuroi laser beams each one dying a messing death as they were turned into blood filled balloons struck by a needle. Michael his Loader told him another shell was ready. "Adolf fire at targets of opportunity you are weapons free; fire at will." Otto said giving his gunner permission to fire as soon as the next shell and target was available. The Neuroi kept coming despite all of the fire that the human forces poured on them, they just never stopped coming. The ones that were wounded just regenerated and followed after their comrades who showed no hesitation to charge into the teeth of the human's firepower. Then a larger red beam was fired from one of the Neuroi infantry who had a weapon arm that resembled a large bazooka; the beam smashed into one of the Whirlwinds obliterating it in a single shot. Another large laser was fired from another Neuroi with a similar weapon; this beam smashed into the front armor of a nearby Panther slagging it. In the stricken Panther the ammo onboard started to cook off before anyone could escape although Otto knew that the crew was probably killed by molten metal before their tank exploded. Otto shook himself from his thoughts and looked to his driver Eric. "Eric we are pulling back to the secondary defensive position inside the village." Otto shouted.

"Understood sir!" Eric shouted back to his tank commander. Otto got over the radio.

"All tanks fall back to secondary defensive positions." He ordered his fellow tankers as more large lasers smacked into the remaining auto cannons killing the crew and destroying the guns. The Panther started to rumble to life as it displaced and headed to another position. Otto watched as another of his tanks was turned into a metal crematorium as a laser struck its side armor. Otto hoped that the crew died quickly this time. The Panzer Grenadiers in the trench line began to fall back as the Neuroi closed on them. Otto watched as a Grenadier was blasted point blank with a laser causing him to explode; another soldier had his head cut off by a Neuroi blade before that same Neuroi then disemboweled another soldier spilling his guts onto the ground. "Michael Canister shell!" Otto shouted to his loader who grabbed a canister shell from the ammo storage area.

"Yes Sir." Michael said as he loaded a canister shell. "Gun ready!" Michael shouted to Otto and Adolf.

"Fire!" Otto shouted.

"On the way!" Adolf shouted as the tank bucked from the recoil of the cannon. A canister shell spits out roughly one thousand small steel ball bearings turning the 75mm cannon into the world's largest shotgun. Against humans the effect of a canister shell at close range would be horrific. Against Neuroi… well it got the job done. The first six Neuroi reaching the trench line were hit dead on by the shell; four exploded and the other two were dismembered. Adolf finished those ones off with the coax machine gun. Lasers then smacked into the side of the Panther, smaller ones this time only enough to make the armor bubble and start to melt, but if Otto stayed for too long they would eventually penetrate the tank. The Panther rumbled away as the Neuroi continued to advance. From the tree line Otto saw a trio of three meter tall five meter long vaguely spider like Neuroi appear with four legs and a head mounted laser port appear and start advancing on the village. When Eric finished moving to the secondary defensive position he would have to make them a priority target. In front of Otto another tank was destroyed by a Neuroi anti-tank trooper. The stricken tanks turret blew off in a spectacular explosion and spiraled threw the air as the ammo detonated all at once. Otto watched as a few of the soldiers who hadn't made it out of the trenches in time were ripped to shreds by Neuroi blades. Some of the Neuroi seemed like they were taking their time killing some of the helpless soldiers who could not escape; cutting off their limbs one by one before decapitating them. It seemed needlessly cruel but from what Otto had heard had happened to the Kaiser and his family he shouldn't have been surprised. Otto then went back to looking ahead and he tried to guide the tank to the next defensive position.

**A village in Central Gallia**

**First Lieutenant Robert Miller**

**10:57 local time**

"Incoming!" Jackson shouted asthe whistle of incoming enemy mortar fire could be heard. Robert ducked into his foxhole as a crystallized miasma shell smacked into the ground sending shards of corrosive diamond hard fragments everywhere. Robert saw two of his men McCoy and Peterson get struck by fragments and looked upon them in horror as their flesh started to dissolve away and they screamed in pain as they seemed to fall apart like a piece of paper would when drenched in water leaving behind a mass of rotting flesh where a person used to be. Robert heard the screech of a Neuroi and raised his head to empty an entire clip of Thompson SMG fire into the alien's body. The .45cal bullets smacked into the alien blowing small white fragments off the alien's body but it kept coming. Right before it was able to close the distance and kill Robert the alien's core was exposed at its chest and a few .45 ACP rounds struck home causing the Neuroi to explode. A few meters away one of Robert's men fired a M1 Bazooka into a Neuroi at close range blowing the Neuroi to pieces. Robert reloaded his SMG and picked another target. This Neuroi seemed to have forgone the blade arm in exchange for an extra laser arm. Robert fired his SMG into the Neuroi's chest blowing away its metal shell and exposing the core. But before Robert could finish it off, it managed to get a shot off killing Jackson who exploded into a spray of steaming flesh and blood spraying one of the nearby soldiers who fell to the ground in agony as boiling blood burned his flesh. Robert fired at the alien's now exposed core destroying it in an explosion of metallic shards.

"Shit what the fuck are these things!? Shouted one of the soldiers near Robert.

"I don't know they aren't like any class we have identified previously." Robert told the soldier. "But it doesn't matter we will kill them all the save Paterson get the Iron Witches on the horn ask them what their ETA is." Robert ordered his radio man who nodded and went to work on his radio. Just then three Fallschirmjager paratroopers ran around the corner 100 meters to the west. A torrent of laser fire pulped two of the soldiers and the last remaining soldier ran towards them screaming a warning. A massive three meter tall spider like Neuroi rounded the corner its head contain a four cell of laser ports it looked to the fleeing Karlslander and charged at him impaling the soldier with one of its legs and tossing his corpse against a wall. It then let out an ear piercing screech and began to fire a rapid fire burst of laser fire cutting down three of the Screaming Eagles. "Take it down!" Robert shouted as he began to fire his Thompson into it. Two rockets from the bazooka troopers struck the creature and both BAR gunners opened up on the Neuroi, the bullets bounced off its thick metal shell; the rockets did little better hardly putting a dent in the creature as it charged at them. Another Screaming Eagle was hit in the stomach by a laser beam popping him like an over ripened tomato. "Fall back!" Robert shouted to his men as he turned and ran to cover. He got behind an overturned car and took up position firing at the creature as it closed on his men. The Neuroi creature stabbed one of his soldiers in the face and shot two others. Another rocket hit the Neuroi with little effect; the rocket just seemed to piss it off. Robert's men ran past him around the corner. The Neuroi seemed like it was about to pursue them one a canon shot from a Panther tank struck its left side. The Neuroi screeched in pain and turned to face the tank firing all four of its head mounted lasers causing the armored vehicle to be nothing but an expensive metal coffin. More gunfire shot out at the Neuroi from down the street where the destroy tank lay. This seemed sufficient to distract the Neuroi as it changed course and headed down the street as rockets and gunfire struck its frame.

"Shit that thing… that thing just took out a tank!" a soldier shouted "in one shot!" he added for good measure.

"I know. Come on let's move to another defensive position." Robert said as they moved down the street Robert looked to Patterson and spoke. "What is the ETA on the Iron Witches?" Robert asked the young soldier.

"Sir they should be here in ten minutes; and the Tame Witches are not far behind them." Patterson replied. _Shit at the rate we are going we are going to be wiped out in five. _

"Great you heard him gentlemen we got witches inbound in ten minutes. All we need to do is survive for ten minutes we can do that gentlemen we are Airborne and we don't fucking lie down and die especially for the Neuroi!" Robert shouted to his men who were clearly uneasy; Robert couldn't blame them after seeing their comrades turned to nothing more but bits of flesh and a mass of boiling blood he couldn't blame them. Robert had seen what happened when a big Neuroi shot someone; they just turned to ash… but this was something else entirely something far more disturbing. Robert then looked to the rooftops in just enough time to see four jet black female looking human figures drop down from one of the roofs. They had diamond shaped heads and feminine bodies in each hand they carried a cruel looking curved blade with a serrated edge. They were Neuroi that was for damn sure. Just as Robert was about to order his men to fire the Neuroi let out a screech so loud and powerful that it completely disoriented Robert and tossed him to the ground. Robert regained his sense to see the men who were lying closest to the Neuroi were lying motionlessly on the ground blood pouring from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as every organ in their body burst from the pressure wave caused by the sonic attack. Then like a blur the Neuroi were upon them; one Neuroi decapitated one man with a reverse hand swing and without missing a beat it stabbed another through his heart. Robert fired into the nearest Neuroi creature bullets smacking into the creatures body. Eventually Robert's bullets struck the core causing the humanoid Neuroi to explode into metallic fragments. Robert's men emptied their M1 Grand rifles into the remaining Neuroi who managed to kill two more soldiers before being brought down. "Come on let's move people!" Robert shouted to his men as they continued to advance. They rounded a nearby corner and saw one hundred meters in front of them was a defensive position where Karlslanders had set up MG42s and Panzerfaust rocket launchers. One of the Panzer Grenadiers waved for them to come over to them. Robert gestured for his men to advance when that Neuroi spider creature from before smashed through the wall in front of him and turned its gun on the Karlslanders. A large ruby red beam smashed into the building behind them causing it to collapse on their heads killing most of the Karlslanders. The few who remained opened fire with STG44s and Gewehr 43s. The bullets they fired might as well have been spitballs however since they bounced off the creature's armor. Robert pulled out an Mk 2 grenade and tossed it at the creature. The explosion did what Robert should have expected… that is to say not a damn thing. The creature didn't even bother turning to look at Robert as it fired its laser rapid fire at the Panzer Grenadiers killing them in seconds. It then turned to face Robert and his men. The creature's weapons port glowed and Robert braced for the end. Just then a tank shell rounded the corner and smashed through the Neuroi's shell causing it to explode into white fragments. And Robert saw the most beautiful sight in the world as six tank witches rounded the corner. The witches track dashed over to him and Major Samantha V. Walters spoke to Robert.

"Hey sorry we are late what is the situation?" Samantha asked him. Robert had met the beautiful strawberry blonde haired witch along with one of the other witches Zhana if he remembered correctly a few weeks ago in one of the officer's halls. He had actually taken quite a liking to both of them.

"Ma'am we got Neuroi infantry in the city they are very deadly in close quarters as you can probably tell. And the Neuroi have those spider things acting like light tanks for their forces; our bullets just bounce off them like we were tossing spitballs at them." Robert told her. Samantha nodded and was about to speak when a tight red beam blew Paterson's head off. Robert hit the deck instinctively along with all of his men.

"Sniper!" one of Robert's men shouted. Samantha gestured for one of her witches.

"Zhana take out that Sniper!" She shouted to the Orussian witch.

"Yes Ma'am!" she shouted and aimed down the scope of her rifle at a Neuroi six hundred meters down the street. Robert could see that the Neuroi was human shaped and on foot. It looked like he was carrying some kind of rifle in its hands. Zhana fired her sniper rifle and a shock wave of magical energy followed after the bullet. First the round hit the Neuroi center mass exposing the core then a split second later the shock wave struck the Neuroi causing it to erupt in a mass of white fragments. Down the street more Neuroi infantry rounded the corner and Samantha spoke.

"Alright Ladies let them have it!" Samantha shouted.

**A village in Central Gallia**

**Major Samantha V. Walters**

**11:10 local time**

"SHOTGUN!" Diana shouted as she activated her inherent magical ability as she fired her cannon over the head of the Neuroi. When the shell was over the main mass of Neuroi creatures it burst in the air showering the Neuroi in dozens of smaller munitions obliterating ten of the creatures. Samantha and Claudia aimed their weapons at the Neuroi and sent a blizzard of magic enhanced rounds down range smashing into the smaller Neuroi. The effect that high caliber magic enhanced rounds had on them was akin to shooting a cardboard box with an elephant gun, the bullets just blew through them like they were nothing. The Neuroi's advance down the street was stopped cold by the combined forces of the Iron Witches' machine guns. Samantha looked to Helga and Zhana and spoke.

"Zhana and Helga I want you two to find a vantage point to pick off targets at a distance see if you can take out any of the bigger ones for us. Everyone else with me; we are going down the street to see if we can relieve the forces at the secondary defensive position. And remember the Tame Witches will be here soon to provide back up so check your fire." Samantha ordered her girls who acknowledged her orders. Samantha and the other three witches advanced down the street. Samantha used her magical ability "command and control" to spot the nearest group of enemies which were down the street to their left. Samantha turned the corner and saw a group of Neuroi infantry literally cutting down the Liberion troops as they tried to retreat to a better position. The Neuroi soldier's blades were slick with human blood and their bodies were drenched in the gore as they killed the human soldiers without mercy. One of the Neuroi turned to face Samantha in just enough time to realize it was about to die as she fired a five round burst from her Thompson into its chest blasting the small two meter tall Neuroi to pieces. Diana fired her 76mm cannon into one of the Neuroi blowing it to bits and Izumi and Claudia riddled the third with bullets. A 75mm shell rounded the corner and smashed into another Neuroi as it tried to get to cover. Samantha smirked as she saw Helga use her ability. Helga's inherent ability was to control the trajectory of a shell in flight combined with Samantha's CIC abilities they could pick targets off without actually having to ever see them face to face. Samantha track dashed to the last Neuroi that was charging at her with its blade arm ready. Just before the creature could swing at her Samantha used her magic to hop up and kick the creature in the face knocking it flat on its ass. Izumi then dashed over to it and shot the creature point blank in the core with her rifle.

"Nice moves Sam." Diana said to Samantha who nodded.

"Thanks alright ladies onwards to the secondary defensive position." Samantha said to the witches who then moved up with their weapons ready. Samantha thought to herself hoping that the civilians had managed to make it out of the area before the Neuroi arrived. But judging by how swiftly the Neuroi attacked she had her doubts about that. They advanced further into town eventually they rounded the corner and flanked a group of Neuroi infantry and a large spider like Neuroi that were systematically destroying the handful of tanks and soldiers who had made it to the prepared position. Sam raised her SMG and fired into the backs of the Neuroi killing three. The Neuroi infantry turned around and fired their lasers at her which bounced off the shield that she erected. Sam fired into the mass of Neuroi each burst sending three bullets into the cores of the Neuroi causing them to explode into fragments. Sam then saw the spider like Neuroi fire its laser at one of the three remaining tanks obliterating it in a single hit. The Neuroi then turned to Samantha and it fired at her, the laser bounced off Sam's shield. Then Sam returned fire at the creature her magic enhanced bullets smacking into the creature breaking off pieces of armor exposing the core to a kill shot. Diana fired a 76mm shell into the creature killing it.

"Yee-haw that was a big one!" Diana said as she held her smoking cannon pointed towards the sky as the battlefield went quiet. Sam scanned from side to side but didn't see any Neuroi.

"Yeah but don't get cocky their still might…" Samantha was cut off as she detected another spider like Neuroi just as it smashed through the wall next to her and charged her. Sam put up her shield just in time to block the Neuroi's leg from impaling her. Samantha was tossed to the ground as the Neuroi repeatedly smashed her shield with its leg. Then Sam heard a crack and saw a bullet smack into the top of the Neuroi followed by a shockwave. "Thanks Zhana I owe you a drink when we get back to base." Samantha told the Orussian sniper.

"Thank you comrade Major." Zhana whispered into the radio. Just then four air infantry witches flew overhead guns blazing. It was the Tame Witches. 1st Lieutenant Clotilda Marwick descended from the sky on her P-51D striker unit.

"Sorry we are late Sam we got held up by some clouds a ways back." Clotilda told Sam who nodded.

"It's ok the important thing is you are here." Samantha used her CIC ability to check for any Neuroi around which fortunately there wasn't. "This area is clear but about an hour's flight from here is another village the Neuroi attacked. Do you think you can check it out?" Sam asked the Liberion witch who nodded.

"Yes ma'am I and the other air infantry witches will move to the village I will leave Jenna and Olivia to provide ground support in case the Neuroi attack this place again." As Clotilda said that Jenna and Olivia pulled up beside Sam.

"Hey Samantha how are you?" Jenna asked Samantha as she stuck out her hand. Samantha grabbed hold of Jenna's hand and shook it.

"I am ok. Listen you and Olivia will be sticking with us while your air component handles the other village got it?" Sam asked Jenna who nodded.

"Sure. Hey Darya stay safe ok." Jenna shouted to the young Orussian witch wielding the auto cannon who waved to Jenna.

"Alright ladies let's move." Clotilda said as she shot up and away towards the other village. Just then First Lieutenant Robert Miller walked up to her. Robert was a twenty five year old blonde haired Lieutenant who was on his first tour with the 101st and he was a decent commander and a decent guy. Though for some reason Zhana seemed to get all red in the face when talking to him; probably because she nervous around men for some reason.

"Hey Major can I talk to you for a bit?" Robert asked her. Samantha nodded her head.

"Yeah sure what is on your mind?" She asked Robert as they started to walk with each other.

"The Neuroi ma'am haven't seen anything like these ones before. They used a different set of tactics and they used melee weapons on us. I didn't even know that the Neuroi could use those types of weapons." Robert said to Samantha who nodded her head.

"Yes it does seem strange that they could do that. The Neuroi have always attacked us with larger combat forms using powerful lasers to destroy vehicles and aircraft at a distance. That is why infantry and tanks using ambush tactics and dug in anti-tank guns have work so well in the past against them. But these Neuroi seemed like they were specifically designed to engage infantry in a close in fight. It appears that the Neuroi are adapting to us yet again." Samantha said to Robert who nodded.

"Yeah and there was another type that my men and I encountered before you showed up. They looked human shaped but they used some kind of sound attack to stun me and my men and the soldiers closest to them actually died as a result. After we were stunned they closed the distance and attacked us with swords." Robert told her. Sound as a weapon that was something that Samantha had not thought of before but if Robert said it was true then she had no reason not to believe him.

"Interesting who knows what the Neuroi will think of next." Samantha said with a slight shrug. Robert grunted in affirmation. Then he held up his SMG.

"And this thing… it just wouldn't cut it against the Neuroi. Maybe if I had explosive bullets or incendiary bullets I might be able to do some damage but we don't have those types of bullets for hand held weapons yet. And then the rifles we had they did some damage but they fired to slow to deal with the massed attacks that they would launch. I think we are going to need some kind of rifle that can fire as fast as an SMG while having the range and power of a rifle." Robert said to Samantha who lifted an eyebrow.

"What some kind of machine gun rifle? How the heck would you control the recoil of the thing?" Sam asked Robert who shrugged.

"No clue, but I am sure the lab coats would find a way to do it." Robert said. Samantha nodded and looked to the left where there was a massive blood stain.

"How many did we lose?" She asked him.

"I don't know but too many; that is for sure." He told her. "We had about two battalions or so in strength here when the Neuroi arrived. There were maybe about a thousand of them are so. We outnumbered them two to one and they still would have beaten us if it weren't for you witches. They didn't even have any air support or armor to back them up other than those spider things which were a nasty piece of work by themselves if there were more of them we would have been fucked." Robert confessed to her. Samantha nodded again. It was a tough and blood fight that was for sure. "But the worst part was that it fucking came out of nowhere. We are hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest hive and these fuckers just appear out of thin air and start killing shit." Robert said to her.

"Yeah that is stranger than anything else about the Neuroi's attack. How the heck did they manage to sneak a force this large past any of the early warning detection teams?" Samantha asked him.

"I got no clue to be honest with you." He told her. "Anyways so how have you been?" Robert asked her.

**A village in Central Gallia**

**Sergeant Major Zhana Moskvin**

**11:37 local time**

"Hey there how is it going?" Jenna asked as she patted the shy Orussian witch on the back. Zhana tensed a bit in surprised.

"Oh everything has been going ok Comrade Jenna." Zhana replied to her friend from the Tame Witches. "How have you and Darya been?" Zhana asked Jenna who smiled.

"Oh we have been great. We have been a lot busier though since the 501st disappeared. We used to get called up like once every other month but now it's every other day we get called to the frontlines." Jenna told her. Jenna then dashed behind Zhana and whispered into her ear. "So tell me have you made your move on your squeeze yet?" Jenna asked Zhana whose face went beet red.

"What…whatever do you mean I could never do something like that!" Zhana protested to Jenna who chuckled a bit.

"You know you are eventually going to have to get over that shyness of yours otherwise…" Jenna put her hand on Zhana's chin and made her head turn towards Major Walters and 1st Lieutenant Miller who were laughing and smiling with each other. "Otherwise you might miss your window." Jenna said to Zhana who tensed. _Damn she might be right. _Zhana thought as she looked upon her object of affection who was laughing and smiling with her romantic rival.

**A destroyed village in Central Gallia**

**"The Scarlet Lady"**

**11:41 local time**

"What a pity I went gentle with you and you still lie there whimpering like a pathetic child." The Scarlet Lady mocked her latest victim as she licked the blood from her claws. Her latest victim was a young blonde haired woman who was stripped naked and lying on the floor. Blood poured from between her legs and from the various cuts The Scarlet Lady had inflicted on her. The Scarlet Lady then lay down on top of her latest victim and caressed her victim with her claws eliciting a flinch from the young woman. "You humans are such weak and pathetic creatures you don't even make worthwhile playthings." The Scarlet Lady used her telepathy to taunt her victim who just sobbed a bit. As a wraith class The Scarlet Lady had certain privileges when she wished she could take a human for herself to be her personal plaything to do with whatever she decides. In fact The Scarlet Lady had actually taken a few humans earlier to give to her mistress The Succubus as an offering of fealty. But this human she wasn't even worth the effort to drag her back to her world. "Now I am going to feast upon your very essence and annihilate every ounce of your being. When I am done with you… all you will feel is oblivion." The Scarlet Lady taunted her victim. Just as she was about to devour the soul of this pathetic ape she was stopped.

"The Lord of Nightmares has commanded us to leave one human alive to deliver our message." The Scarlet Lady turned to look behind her seeing The Inferno standing in the doorway. The Inferno was a tall two and a half meter tall man shaped Neuroi with a pair of horns atop its head and eyes of fire. Its hands were clawed and with them he could use his ability in The Fury to control fire and bend it to its will. The Inferno could actually control the flames and make them shoot out and intercept any humans who fled from its wrath. The Inferno was a mighty and feared Neuroi General who marshaled the forces of the Empire upon the field of battle.

"But my lord she looks so tasty and I haven't eaten all day." The Scarlet Lady protest using her silky smooth voice to try and influence the Neuroi general's decision.

"No you can't kill her; The Lord of Nightmares has commanded us to spare one human and it was ordered by The Architect to do so; and you do not want to disobey your God King." The Inferno told her. The Scarlet Lady growled in frustration.

"Fine then what do you intend for me to do to her?" The Scarlet Lady asked the Inferno.

"Crucify her." it replied as it started to walk away. The Scarlet Lady smiled inward. At least that was an entertaining way to kill a human. The Scarlet Lady grabbed her victim by the hair and started to drag her to the center of the village.

**A destroyed village in Central Gallia**

**"The Inferno"**

**11:47 local time**

The Inferno walked through the destroyed and burning human village. Incinerator class Neuroi had started to set fire to the human dwellings and some of the infantry classes had begun to put human heads on spikes to serve as a warning. The Inferno saw several human females in the street who had been stripped naked and their more intimate regions had been mutilated by wraiths. Several banshee classes were feasting on a human corpse that was left in the street in front of his home. And strung up from some of the lamp posts were several skinned human corpses that tormentor class Neuroi had skinned alive. The Inferno walked to the center of town where three human prisoners were being held. The Berserker stood over them keeping watch. The Berserker was a powerful three and a half meter tall behemoth with arms ending in lightening sheathed claws and a set of powerful tusks in its skull like face.

"The ape animals are ready to speak my lord." The Berserker told him with a slight chuckle in his voice. It stood cross armed over the humans who had their hands over their heads as a sign of surrender. The Inferno went over to the human in the middle who was wearing a dress uniform of the Karlsland Army; around his neck was a medal of some kind; the Knights cross if The Inferno remembered correctly. The inferno knelt down to face the human and grabbed the medal.

"Such a nice medal… how did you get this medal human?" The Inferno used its telepathy to speak directly into the person's mind. The human shuttered in pain as his mind was violated by The Inferno and a burning sensation surged throughout his body. That being said the human was still defiant.

"I was awarded it for bravery… for fighting monsters like you!" The human shouted to The Inferno who looked to his warriors and spoke.

"Bravery he says." The Inferno said to his warriors who laughed at the notion that humans could be brave. The humans were nothing but pathetic cowards who feared death and ran at the first opportunity they were hardly even worth calling living creatures. In fact it was a mercy for the Neuroi to end this pathetic creature's life. The Inferno then looked to the human. "Tell me human what defenses lay between here and Paris?" The Inferno asked the human with clear amusement in its voice.

"I will never tell you monster!" The human shouted and spit in The Inferno's face. The Inferno looked to one of the tormentors behind him, one that was wearing a fresh human skin that it had peeled off of a human today to wear as a form of intimidation to the humans. The tormentor approached The Inferno who then called forth his personal knife named Hell Blade. It was a wicked looking curved knife made out of a denser and sharper version of the Neuroi's metal. The Inferno held the blade to the human's neck and spoke.

"You will die today human that much is certain. But I am giving you a choice you can either die by my blade a relatively quick and painless death or…" The Inferno gestured to the tormentor class. "I will give you to the tormentors to skin alive… and they take their time with their victims. They enjoy watching them suffer as they peel the skin off of their bones and watch the light go out of their victim's eyes." The Inferno said to the human who now had fear in his eyes. "So what will it be human?" The Inferno asked the human who remained silent. "Oh silence I see…" he looked over to The Berserker who nodded and proceeded to smash his fist into the top of one of the human's skulls and began to laugh as he pounded the human into the ground like a railroad spike. Within seconds the human was nothing but a bloody smear on the ground. The Berserker then grabbed the other human and lifted it over the man with the medal and tore the man in half showering the man below in blood and gore. The surviving human soiled himself in fear which was most amusing.

"Ok I will talk!" The human shouted. "There are three Liberion Armored Divisions between here and Paris with a Corps of the Panzer Elite to provide support. There is also six squadrons of witches near Paris and they can be deployed anywhere at a moment's notice." The human confessed to it. The Inferno smiled inwardly.

"Good…" The Inferno then looked to the tormentor class. "Skin him, and pin this medal to his corpse. I want the humans to know how "brave" he was as he died." The Inferno said to the tormentor class who then went over and grabbed the human.

"What no! You said you would show me mercy!" the human protested as The Inferno walked away from him. The Inferno turned its head to face the human.

"Why would I ever show a creature as pathetic as you mercy?" The Inferno replied as it continued to walk away. Then an infantry class Neuroi with demon horns on its head approached it.

"My lord The Scarlet Lady has finished preparing the message for the humans." The infantry class told it. The Inferno thought for a moment then remembered the name of this Neuroi.

"Good… so you are the one they call The Soldier correct?" The Inferno asked The Soldier who nodded.

"Yes my lord I earned the name two Great Harvests ago when we purged the infidels from existence." The Soldier replied.

"Yes I hear that you are a fine warrior; I look forward to seeing you in battle when the Ritual is complete and we descend upon the human worlds like a swarm of locusts." The Inferno told the Soldier who nodded his head in thanks.

"Thank you my lord I look forward to the day we purge humanity from existence." The Soldier told the Inferno even though The Soldier didn't mean it. The Soldier never found itself into the whole genocide thing. After all when you found a good warrior race that put up a good fight why should you destroy it? If you did destroy them then you couldn't come back later and fight them again when they had gotten even stronger.

"Indeed my fellow warrior of The Architect I feel the same way. Soon when both of the human worlds have been harvest it will fill my core with glee to know we served our God King well." The Inferno told The Soldier.

"Sir Witches will be here soon should we make our retreat?" The Soldier asked its general. Though personally the Soldier just wanted to get out of this village he had seen enough pointless sadism from his comrades for one day.

"Yes spread the word we are going back to our realm." The Inferno told the Soldier. _Although we won't be gone for long._ The Inferno thought to itself as it prepared to step back into the Neuroi's home realm. Soon humanity would know the full power of the Empire; and then nothing could stop the Neuroi from purifying this world.

**A destroyed village in Central Gallia**

**Junior Sergeant Darya Abakumova**

**12:17 local time**

Darya looked upon the burning village in horror as she took in the sights before her. The Neuroi had left but in their wake they had left a nightmare made reality. Human heads were atop spikes in the grass skinned corpses hung from lamp posts like some kind of grotesque trophies, in the street lay half eaten corpses and near one of the homes Darya saw a women who had been stripped naked with blood dripping from between her legs and her breasts cut off. It was too much for the thirteen year old witch to take. Darya lost her lunch at the sight of it all. Brinda a witch from Pali came over to her.

"Darya are you alright?" The witch asked her. Darya shook her head.

"No comrade Brinda I am not alright… how could… how could the Neuroi do this to us? This is madness it is barbarism beyond anything I have ever seen." Darya replied to Brinda who tried to comfort her.

"Come on let's try to find out what happened people." Clotilda told them. They searched the village for survivors not finding a single one until Alannah Wualkar a witch from Australis spoke.

"Guys over here!" she shouted as Darya looked over to where Alannah had pointed she saw to her horror a naked women pined to a cross shaped Neuroi device. Darya and Brinda rushed over to the woman and tried to pull her down but the cross it had wormed its way into the veins in the woman's wrists and the veins in her legs and even worse some of the tendrils had actually entered her more intimate regions of her body. The woman screamed in pain as she awoke.

"I have… I have a message for you… from the Neuroi." The woman told them. "The Neuroi told me to tell you… that they are coming to this world and that there is nothing you can do to stop them… and humanity sole purpose is to be the Neuroi's playthings to burn… torture… rape… and kill as they please." The woman's eyes rolled back into her head and she slumped over dead. Darya and the rest of the Tame Witches stood there in silence as they took in the dreadful implications of what they had just heard.

* * *

**Well that was certainly dark wasn't it? anyway I hope you guys enjoyed reading this short story as much as I did writing it and as I said in the beginning if you want to see more of the Iron Witches and Neuroi Empire then please read the Clocktower which is located in the Call of Duty and Strike Witches Cross over section with an M rating. and for my fans of the clocktower I plan on uploading another chapter very soon perhaps as soon as Thursday or Friday but maybe the following week which for me will be finals. anyway so plz r/r tell me what you think of this story and how I have portrayed the Neuroi which as I said is the complete opposite of how my good friend Bucue is planning on portraying them. **


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